A THOUSAND WORDS - Alex Waterhouse-Hayward's blog on pictures, plants, politics and whatever else is on his mind.

Not at an Arm's Length

Sunday, November 20, 2016

The severe problem that an arm’s length is in this 21st
century is much in my mind these days.

It is all but impossible to ignore things Trump and
social media these days. Before the election my Rosemary and I used up (we
thought intelligently) at least two hours daily listening and watching Rachel
Maddow and others on MSNBC. Both of us consumed “de pi a pa”, Spanish from beginning to end every left-leaning
columnist of our daily delivered NY Times. After Election Day we have avoided
all TV and we (I more than Rosemary) read sparingly all the political stuff
about how the US is moving right in the NY Times. It’s the overdue library book
syndrome. If you place said book inside a drawer and close it shut the problem
does not exist.

The social media thing that absolutely escapes me is why so
many people post pictures of themselves taken with the wide-angle point of view
with their smart phones. Are they not aware that anything closer (like a nose)
to the angle of view of smart phone will appear larger. And if you place the phone
over you the top of your head will loom larger and the chin will recede into
nothingness.

There is a friend of mine (I have never met her) who is
lightly middle-aged and loves to pose for her smart phone with pursed lips and a
limp smile. I wonder if she has relatives or friends she could possibly kiss
with those lips of hers.

This is not a rant, really. I am just looking for a
rationalization for posting here a photograph of someone that looks like me
with a luscious woman in Las Vegas in 1983. And obvious to anyone is the fact that this, a head-to-toe kind-of-selfy, is so rare in this day and age.